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Tag Archives: Waterloo

Donald Trump has turned his threats of a trade war into reality. (Photo: AP)

US President Donald Trump fired the biggest shot yet in the global trade war by imposing tariffs on $US34 billion ($46 billion) of Chinese imports. China immediately said it would be forced to retaliate.

The duties on Chinese goods started at 12:01 am Friday in Washington (2:01 pm AEST), which was just after midday in China. Another $US16 billion of goods could follow in two weeks, Trump earlier told reporters, before suggesting the final total could eventually reach $US550 billion, a figure that exceeds all of US goods imports from China in 2017.

US customs officials will begin collecting an additional 25 per cent tariff on imports from China of goods ranging from farming plows to semiconductors and airplane parts. China’s officials have previously said they would respond by imposing higher levies on goods ranging from American soybeans to pork, which may in turn prompt Trump to raise trade barriers even higher.

The author is 50% right and 50% wrong. Simon Jenkens explains that a Brexit would mean Germany will be given free rein over Europe once again and to be able to do what it wants without being stopped. This is the the half portion where he’s right.

Where he’s wrong is that he’s missing 50% of the picture: Germany doesn’t really care what Great Britain does, it’s advantageous either way. If the Britons wish to remain in, they will be subjugated to Germany as they run the EU and two thirds of the Troika which is stacked with unelected officials answerable to nobody — and coincidentally mostly German. To see where the scenario of staying in would lead to, just look at Greece. It’s a vassal state with no more sovereign rights and gets dictated to on economic policy, the terms of the bailout it accepted under Communist Varoufakis and Tsipras. The same for Cyprus.

This is the price for staying in and reaping what the leadership in Germany and Brussels call “benefits”.

You might’ve seen this quote often here by now, but it still couldn’t be any more true and relevant for today:

“You have not anchored Germany to Europe,… You have anchored Europe to a newly dominant, unified Germany. In the end, my friends, you’ll find it will not work.“

– Margaret Thatcher

In the end, this referendum is about politics not economics. And a Britain that votes to stay in the club will wield serious clout

Decision time is here. The dither must stop. The referendum campaign has been tedious and infuriating, but in truth enthralling. I cannot remember a political event that has so consumed public discussion. In every pub, workplace, college and home, friends have argued, families feuded, allegiances splintered. Only the 2014 Scottish referendum came near it. For two months democracy has been asked to do that most alarming thing: to think for itself, independent of party. It is awesome. It is also dangerous.

I have deliberately switched sides each week during the campaign, to see how the much-vaunted “facts” register against divergent prejudices. I have subjected my poor brain to a barrage of “reality checks”, and meticulously balanced pros and cons. I have long been a Eurosceptic, but that is not the same as being a leaver. Continue reading →